A long time ago in a city far, far away....A small Wookiee was spewed forth into this world.
Yup, it's my Birthday! I've done the usual Birthday stuff today, slept late, watched Star Wars: A New Hope, later I'm meeting some friends for some pints.
I've never really understood the big deal with Birthdays. It's not like I had to "Indiana Jones" it outta my Moma. My memories a bit hazy about the whole thing, but I'm not sure I had ANYTHING to do but kinda go with the flow...so to speak...then get smacked on the ass by someone I'll never see again.
Huh...is that where the birthday spankings came from? I'm gonna go look that up. I'll be right back.
- (porpoise) -
Ok..,note to self DON'T EVER Google "birthday spankings" again...
The credit should go to my Moma and Da, but somewhere in time, that got twisted into celebrating the fact that I successfully allowed something to happen that I had absolutely no control over. That's kinda like expecting high fives when you are leaving an airplane, then expecting everyone to continue to give you high fives on this date every year for as long as you live.
Don't get me wrong, I dug all the gifts as a kid, and I'ts always good to hear from friends, I just think my folks should've been getting the cake. After all, they raised me, paid for everything I needed and made sure I wasn't a dick...mostly.
Many things have changed while I've been hanging on for dear life to this spinning rock. Music used to be "released" like a glorious dove to fly to the heavens and grace us with song (or poop depending upon the band) however now music just "drops" and lays there like Mrs. Fletcher wishing she had gotten Life Alert. If no one notices it then it calls it's friend the sex tape and asks it to come out and play.
The Raiders have gone from Oakland, to Los Angeles then back to Oakland like a very slow Pirate yo-yo. They may even be coming back down here again, although The Rams have recently come clomping back to town. Unfortunately for us Los Angelenos, due to tax breaks and budget constraints, all home games will be played in Vancouver.
I used to spend hours playing Pong or defending the earth from Space Invaders while my friends looked over my shoulder waiting for their turn. Now I can get killed by some kid, somewhere else in the world, playing an Orc. The kid will usually proceed to tee-bag me and explain how promiscuous my Moma is.
We now have a fourth political party in the United States. It's run by Bud Light and has been promoting several different platforms. Many of their platforms involve people getting loaded and undoubtedly things getting "dropped" from time to time.
However, Miller Lite is claiming that there are some questions about Amy Schumer's birth certificate so we'll see how this develops.
The most fun for me is that we all now live in a world where Marvel is making amazing movies, Star Wars is bigger then ever, NASA is helping us branch out into new worlds and the world is slowly moving towards a level of diversity that I didn't think I'd see in my lifetime.
Overall, my travels down this road have been a lot of fun, and I've been lucky enough to pick up some great folks along the way. I'd like to thank my folks for "getting to know each other" and making me. I'm guessing they had no idea what they'd get from that particular New Years those many years ago, but I think they liked the result. I know I do.
So as we all spin, I'll keep hanging on for a bit longer. If we bump into each other, feel free to give me a high five. ;)
I mentioned in the very first post of this fence that I have been a massive Star Wars fan since I walked out of a cinema, as a nine year old, in 1977. I secretly hope that of all the ways I could shuffle off this mortal boil, (I know...but that sounds funnier) that I'll manage to go out with Alzheimer's so that I can re-experience the movies again for the first time...over and over.
I can only begin to imagine the damage I can do with that bedpan when I'm re-confronted with the various moments in the movies that still give me goose bumps. Therefore, I'd like to take this moment to apologize, in advance, to any of the nurses that may be attempting to govern me in my later years.
To you wonderful people that give your time to make ours more pleasant...
I'm currently aware that you have probably seen the movies. I'm also aware that you are not being paid enough to listen to me prattle on about Chewbacca or to clear up the remnants of the bedpan that I've expertly distributed throughout the ENTIRE room.
I'm also aware that you were probably just as freaked out about "The Kiss(es)" and were as stymied as myself that despite Anakin being a great strategist, he didn't grab the whole concept of "higher ground" and it's advantages...even after being warned.
It's important to me that you grasp that I CURRENTLY understand, but will have no idea "what the frack you're on about..." after someone leaves me in the dumpster behind your building and you are forced to deal with me.
I'm so..SO sorry. *Wookiee Hug* in advance. Feel free to call me whatever names you'd like. I won't remember. ;)
Back on point, way back in 2011 my friend Heath invited myself as well as mutual friends onto his podcast "The Film List" to have a four part in-depth conversation about all six Star Wars movies when they were first released on Blu-Ray.
When he asked, I leaned back within my overly large, "Bond Villain" chair as my cat jumped up onto my lap. I knew full well that Heath had no idea the size of the Rancor he was about to unleash upon his listeners.
You see, as my friend Heath will attest, I am complete rubbish with names. I have and will continue to confuse the work of Liev Schreiber and Liv Tyler. Not because they look similar, but simply because the names are so close. (at least to me) It's completely beyond me how Eva Longoria can work as much as she does yet still have time to play third base for Tampa Bay. THAT'S talent, people.
Yet these podcasts were going to be about Star Wars. I know Star Wars. I can muggle my way through this. I pushed up my glasses, adjusted my pocket protector and agreed. The conversations were long and very in-depth, we all had fun and there were some excellent talking points.
In 2014 we again gathered to talk The Force Awakens teaser, trailer then the feature. I've linked all of the episodes at the bottom if you dare to listen.
Last week, Lucasfilm released a full interview with Pablo Hidalgo from the Star Wars Story Group and something he said reminded me of a question that came up within our podcasts. If you listen around seventeen minutes in you'll hear him talk about canon vs not canon.
The point he makes is that it shouldn't matter if it's canon...is it fun? "Canon" is a tool for the storytellers working with Lucasfilm and for those of us that live out past the Dune Sea and try to predict what is around the Ben(d) for us from those storytellers.
Star Wars Canon is not a judgement on value or worth. It's a tool for the creators.
FINALLY! Mr. Hidalgo, THANK YOU! I just could never put my finger on how to explain it so perfectly. I now have my answer for the future.
Admittedly, if you are brand new to Star Wars, it can be overwhelming on where to jump in, so I always tell my nurse (over and over actually) to start with the movies. Then it's up to you where you want to go it's a huge universe. It's ALL fun! (and games)
Personally, I recommend the animated series "The Clone Wars" (movie first, then the show) then "Star Wars Rebels" they are fantastic shows. In fact the season two finale of Rebels is some of the best Star Wars we have been given to date.
Somewhere within those previously mentioned podcast conversations I was asked if I felt the Expanded Universe was worth reading anymore since it's no longer considered "Star Wars Canon". The Answer...YES!! Definitely! There are amazing stories in there! Just because they are EU or "Legends" as Lucasfilm now refers to them doesn't mean that you won't enjoy the heck outta them.
Need some advice? Feel free to shoot me out a tweet. The folks over at the Full Of Sith podcast are very cool Star Wars fans as well and I'm sure they would be glad to give you recommendations if you shoot them out an email or tweet nicely. ;)
Most of the books now will state "Legends" at the top, but you can always go to Wookieepedia to find out if something is canon or not. They very clearly mark the items at the top of the page Canon or Legends or in some cases both.
Just PLEASE don't let the "Legends" banner scare you off of the enjoyment you may get from these stories of lore.
...that's all for now, the podcast links follow. I gotta go see a man about a Tauntaun...
Be forewarned, this was in the earlier days of podcasting and the audio may take getting used to. Additionally there is no editing done with these. You can find them on iTunes as well, I've included the dates for reference. Here ya go:
Today is September 11th, 2016. It's a day of reflection for many of us here in America. Many a bar conversation today will start with "...where were you?"...pints will be silently raised...bottles will sit, untouched, just starred at. Eventually conversations will shift to how uncomfortable Carrie Underwood looks trying to fast walk and dance in those heels and dress on the Sunday Night Football intro.
These days, it's easy to find something to worry or feel bad about. I don't think I'm alone in my disappointment that Beiber didn't end up in his fathers sock. (If only Chris was still alive...) Many people are in tears over the fact that they will not be able to listen to music in headphones while the iPhone 7 is charging.
In 2016 alone we've lost some AMAZING artists, temperatures globally are at record breaking levels, Brexit, police shootings, terrorist attacks, Syria, New Zealand has a potential volcano issue brewing and we are still dealing with fallout from the United States dropping the atomic bombs on Japan. (I know the timing is off by a few months, but he's always been a bit ...slow.)
Listening to the news nowadays is a bit mind-numbing at the least and terrifying at best. To be honest, I'm surprised I found the courage to come out from under the bed and type this. These are dark days indeed...wait...no the light was off. It's a little brighter now...but still dark.
Is this the worst time ever in human history? I don't know I'm not that well read or an immortal. (That I know of...) I do remember a time when news actually tried to educate us rather then titillate us. Perhaps that's a part of the problem.
I go back to a conversation I had with a woman over pints. She was watching her nephew for the summer. During the conversation it came up that all he wanted to do was play video games. Despite all of her suggestions, she couldn't get him to do anything else. She saw this as a complete waist of time. I told her I thought he was probably bored, didn't have friends in the area and the games were an escape. Then I gave her my thought on motivating him into embracing his curiosity.
I told her next time he was playing, to walk up behind him...stand there for a moment...then say, "WOW! Those graphics look cool! I bet you couldn't make them better..." then walk away. About a year later, I got an email from her that the youngling was now studying game and graphic design. ;) (I love it when a plan comes together...)
So on this dark day, I'll offer you a bit of light as well.
Somewhere in the world...right now...is the first human to walk on Mars.
I'm not kidding.
Think about that for a second. A human being actually walking on the surface of another planet. Not a moon...a planet. NASA has set a plan for a manned mission to Mars in the 2030's. NASA is 100% serious and are actively recruiting new and future astronauts. They even have some posters that would look great on a kids wall...or mine for that matter. ;) They have an entire section of their website dedicated just to Mars. WE ARE GOING TO SEND HUMANS TO MARS!
Next time a youngling tells you they are bored, sit down with them and discuss that a Great Dane actually has a top speed of 30 mph (48 kph) and a scared Great Dane is probably going to beat that speed. Yet Shaggy always keeps up with Scooby. Therefore it could be argued that Shaggy is a superhero.
Or you could get that youngling excited about What NASA is working on. NASA made it easy for you. Perhaps the Commander of Orion could be someone very close to you.
...now if we could all just avoid the "Earth Shattering KABOOM" 'till then...that'd be great.
I've always wondered why I'm "afraid of heights" yet I'm fine when flying commercially or otherwise. I will get a very odd feeling when even on a two-step stepladder. It gets worse when I'm on a high balcony. The Grand Canyon is beautiful. I've been once...years ago, but I'm cool with a picture from now on. Put me on a ledge in a video game, and I'll "nope" outta there...fast. Yet none of this occurs when I fly.
To be clear, I'm not claiming that I have the ability to fly without aid of an airplane or other device. I've flown in commercial airliners many times and it's never bothered me...in the slightest. I've also flown on smaller private planes and never so much as felt uneasy. I'm also surprisingly cool with roller coasters.
It's an interesting paradox to me. A paradox is two things that contradict themselves. After looking up the history of the word it stems from the Greek word "paradoxon" which sounds like a pretty bad-ass dinosaur...unless you have an American southern accent then it's much less terrifying.
Perhaps...deep down...I believe I CAN fly. To be honest, I've never really tested myself on this. Well sure I tried as a little kid, but little kids will believe anything you tell them. Somewhere there's a guy, all grown up, that thinks that Captain America has secretly been a part of Hydra this whole time 'cause I told him that when he was little. (LOL! ahhh kids.)
In Robert Kelly's video he states that he believes HE can fly, yet he never tests his theory. Unlike the Wright Brothers, Robert never shows any footage of actually testing if he can fly. He just stands there on a step ladder (man's got balls) in a cornfield being filmed by a helicopter. Just one shot of him jumping off the ladder, arms outstretched, to verify his theory would have helped.
Instead, at the end we are left with Robert standing in a gymnasium with the choir to beat all choirs. (Odin doesn't need that many singers) He's flapping his hands as they sing, and then he proceeds to apparently conduct the singers in a manor that cries "I'm a two year old!" Apparently he believes he's John Williams as well. So we are left with no proof on whether or not Robert can indeed fly. (he CLEARLY can't conduct a choir)
Like an educated person, I could put this to the test and try to fly. Therefore, I'm going to go into the front room and test my potential new found ability. Sure, I may start out like William Katt, but with persistence...who knows. The point is, I've never, as an adult, actually tried to fly. Hang on a sec...brb...
- (porpoise)-
Ok, I can confirm (as can my ribs) that I apparently don't have the ability to fly...and my cats have lost even more faith in me...and my neighbors are probably certain it's the Apocalypse. Surely they are now waiting on the Trump/Pence.
The more I think about it, it's not really the height. I think, I'm more in the Paul Newman camp on this one. Logically, I would not get on a plane or roller coaster without having SOME faith in the people that designed it, built it, maintain it and fly/control it.
So the finger of pointing may have turned...
Perhaps my fear of heights (or falling) is actually a fear within me. Perhaps it's a fear of my own failings. (It may just be that I know I'm about as coordinated as Chevy Chase as well) There's the possibility that I could turn this around and conquer this silly fear that weakens my knees when standing upon the abyss of a one foot drop.
Alternatively, I could take Roberts message to heart. I think he's trying to tell the world that if you believe you can fly, then don't test it out, don't look at the science, record a song and stand in a cornfield with a blouse on and get a helicopter to film it.
....I gotta go write a song called "I Believe I'm Bill Gates.". (ninja bunny!)
